SHSelfHostIndex

Camunda Platform 7 vs Conductor OSS

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted automation & workflows options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
CA Camunda Platform 7 Archived BPMN-based workflow and decision automation engine VS CO Conductor OSS Microservices and workflow orchestration engine
FeatureCamunda Platform 7Conductor OSS
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score15 · At risk98 · Excellent
StatusArchivedActively maintained
CategoryAutomation & WorkflowsAutomation & Workflows
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaJava
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, bare-metaldocker, kubernetes, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4,269★ 32,227
First released20132016
ReplacesMicrosoft Power Automate, AWS Step FunctionsAWS Step Functions, Camunda

What are Camunda Platform 7 and Conductor OSS?

Camunda Platform 7

Camunda Platform 7 is an open-source workflow and decision automation engine based on the BPMN and DMN standards. It executes process models and integrates with Java applications and microservices.

  • Standards-based BPMN execution
  • DMN decision tables
  • Visual process modeler
  • REST API and Java integration

Conductor OSS

Conductor is a platform created to orchestrate microservices and business processes at scale. It lets teams define workflows as JSON and run them across distributed task workers.

  • JSON-defined workflows
  • Distributed task workers
  • Visual workflow editor
  • Built for microservice orchestration

Read the full Conductor OSS guide →

Camunda Platform 7 vs Conductor OSS: key differences

The biggest difference is maintenance: Camunda Platform 7's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Conductor OSS is actively maintained. Both projects are written in Java. Camunda Platform 7 is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Conductor OSS. Camunda Platform 7 is the more established project (first released 2013), while Conductor OSS arrived in 2016. Conductor OSS has the considerably larger community, at 32,227 GitHub stars versus 4,269.

Why pick each one

Choose Camunda Platform 7 if…

  • Strong BPMN standards support
  • Mature ecosystem

Watch out for

  • Newer Camunda 8 is not fully open source
Camunda Platform 7 details

Choose Conductor OSS if…

  • Battle-tested at scale
  • Language-agnostic workers

Watch out for

  • Java stack is resource heavy
Conductor OSS details

Frequently asked questions

Is Camunda Platform 7 or Conductor OSS better?

Neither is universally better. Conductor OSS has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Camunda Platform 7 and Conductor OSS free and open-source?

Yes. Camunda Platform 7 is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Conductor OSS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Camunda Platform 7 and Conductor OSS with Docker?

Camunda Platform 7: yes. Conductor OSS: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Camunda Platform 7 or Conductor OSS?

Camunda Platform 7 has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Conductor OSS. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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